The present invention relates to an apparatus for effectively separating gases from a fluid.
The gases entrained in a fluid must be separating because they cause damages to apparatus and devices, increase in compressivity, errosion due to cavitation, vibrations, noise, poor quality products, changes in property of the fluid, degradation of the fluid and so on.
In order to separate the gases from the fluid, there has been devised and demonstrated a system in which bubbles in the fluid are collected. That is, the fluid is introduced into a cylindrical or coil-shaped passage to swirl and the bubbles are collected at the center of the vortexes by utilizing the centrifugal force, thereby separating the bubbles from the fluid.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a conventional system. The lower end of a cylinder 1 which is a container defining a cylindrical space therein is closed with a cover 2 and an inlet pipe 5 is so disposed that the fluid is pumped by a pump 3 and is introduced into the cylinder 1 in the tangential direction. The upper end of the cylinder 1 is closed with a cover 6 and an outlet pipe 9 is so disposed that one end thereof is connected to an outlet 7 while the other end thereof is connected to a fluid vessel 8, whereby a bubble collecting apparatus 10 is provided.
In the apparatus of the type described above, the fluid entraining the bubbles is caused to flow into the cylinder with a predetermined velocity so that the bubbles entrained in the fluid are collected in the form of a gas column a because of the swirling flow produced in the cylinder 1, the shape of the gas column a being depending upon the flow rate and viscosity of the fluid. Part of the gas thus collected is separated in the form of a large diameter bubble b from the upper end of the gas column a and flows downstream together with the fluid into the fluid vessel 8 where the large-diameter bubbles floats up and are discharged into the surrounding atmosphere.
However, in the conventional system of the type described, when the large-diameter bubble b flows through the outlet pipe 9 into the fluid vessel 8, it collides against the walls of the outlet pipe 9 and fluid vessel 8 so that it is divided into fine bubbles again. In addition, there arises the problem that prior to floating to the fluid surface in the vessel 8, the large-sized bubble b is caused to flow into the suction port of a pump so that it flows through a system line.
In view of the above, the primary object of the present invention is to considerably improve the effect of separating the bubbles entrained in the fluid by causing the bubbles to be collected by the swirling flow and positively discharged into the surrounding atmosphere.
The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.